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Virginia Tech massacre an unbelievably sad event

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Friday, April 20, 2007 - The China Post

A total of 32 people were killed Monday in a Virginia Tech campus building in the deadliest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history. The gunman, a student from South Korea, took down his victims in two attacks that were spread two hours apart. The tragic incident has sent shockwaves around the world.

We wish to express our sympathy to the victims&#39; families and hope they will get all the help they need to make it through this very difficult time. The other students at the university should also be assisted so they can overcome the shock and grief they are suffering.

U.S. President George W. Bush has ordered flags flown at half staff across the nation. Speaking at a memorial service on the Virginia Tech campus, Bush said "it&#39;s impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering."

"Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate," the president said. "They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they&#39;re gone -- and they leave behind grieving families, and grieving classmates, and a grieving nation."

At first it was reported that the alleged killer was a student from China. Later, however, police found the gunman was a fourth-year student from South Korea, described in the media as a "loner." Authorities said he was a legal resident of the United States. The suspect committed suicide after the attacks. Police said there was no evidence of any accomplice at either of the two attacks, but are exploring the possibility.

The shocking incident has prompted debate and discussion about the prevalence of gun ownership in the United States.

An Indonesian mother, according to a news report, bemoaned the availability of guns in the United States after learning her son was among those killed in the massacre, while South Koreans expressed shame and shock that the gunman came from their country.

"Why can people bring guns to campus?" the Indonesian mother said, recalling third-year doctoral student Partahi Lumbantoruan, who had such a promising future. The family had sold property and a car to finance his civil engineering studies.

The lax gun-control legislation in the U.S. is something on which people in many parts of the world don&#39;t agree. Here in Taiwan, gun control legislation is tough and gun possession is generally confined to law-enforcement personnel. The local Gun Control Act even bans the production of toy guns that could be converted into life-threatening firearms, or those bearing similarities to real guns in appearance, material, structure and trigger device.

The strict gun-control legislation here has without a doubt played an important role in preventing violent crime from rising rapidly.

In the United States, there is a powerful gun lobby, and legislators fear that advocacating stricter gun control would result in a loss of votes. Another reason why guns are readily available is the common American belief that in a free country, citizens should be free to own guns.

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BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Wednesday criticized some U.S. media&#39;s irresponsible reports on the Virginia Tech shooting before finding out the truth, calling on relevant sides to eliminate baneful impact of the incident.

Following Monday&#39;s shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech, some U.S. media reported the gunman was a Chinese student. Later, the U.S. police identified the gunman who killed 32 people as a student from the Republic of Korea, Cho Seung-Hui.

Calling the mass shooting a "very serious" incident, Liu said it was a terribly wrong move to give irresponsible reports before finding out the truth, which had violated the professional moral of the press.

The Chinese government and people are very concerned about this incident and lamented the deaths, the spokesman said, adding China expresses sincere sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims as well as the injured, hoping they will recover at an early date.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing conveyed condolences to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice over the shooting in a telegram Tuesday, expressing sincere concern to the U.S. government and those affected by the shooting.

Monday&#39;s shooting rampage is the deadliest mass shooting in the U.S. history. Liu Jianchao said on Tuesday evening China is "shocked" by the tragedy and strongly condemns the violence.

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Can't stick it on Korea

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By Zhang Xin
[ 2007-04-24 15:42 ]

Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, some people apparently tried to stick it on Korea, or China, or Asia in general, all on the strength of such weak arguments that Cho Seung-Hui was an immigrant from Korea, that he was sometimes (mis)taken as Chinese, or that he&#39;s Asian-looking.

I read somewhere that a Korean retorted, quite correctly, that Cho left South Korea at the age of eight and spent most of his formative years in the States so they can&#39;t possibly stick it on Korea. Cho, who killed 33 people including himself on Virginia Tech campus on Monday, April 16, 2007, was 23.

Likewise, you can&#39;t stick it on China. At least once Cho was mistaken as Chinese. "In high school, Cho Seung-Hui almost never opened his mouth. When he finally did, his classmates laughed, pointed at him and said: &#39;Go back to China.&#39;" (Va. Tech shooter a &#39;textbook killer&#39;, Associated Press, April 19, 2007).

Nor can you pin it on Asia. After all, almost all East Asians look the same to the less discerning American eye.

Whom do we stick it onto, then?

If I have to assign blame, I will stick it first on Cho, obviously, then on gun control or the lacks thereof in America, then on pop culture and on society at large.

I, for one, believe it is not as far-fetched to blame it on society at large than on a specific target such as Korea. Society at large, you see, both yonder across the oceans and here in this country looks too much up to what is called success but has too little respect for and tolerance of what is considered to be failure. I mean, only by contrast do we tell success from failure. So theoretically for society as a whole, these two are equally important - we should therefore reserve a degree of respect for those who fail, who come up short but also run.

School bullies, for example, pick on practically anyone who&#39;s not regarded as "one of us". You may get glared at, jeered and sneered at for one of these perfectly harmless "crimes" - that you come from another country (or another province for that manner), that you don&#39;t get ushered to school by a sedan car, that you speak a non-local dialect, that you have an odd accent, that you have a physical disability or simply a harelip, that you have a mental problem.... The list goes on and on.

In the mainstream society of one-upmanship, pop culture craves for bringing up heroes (American Idol, or the Super Girl in China) and in the process create as a by product victims and villains, of whom Cho is but a latest and most disturbing example.

No doubt, blaming it on society at large is in vain. Cho himself tried to do it, and what consequences did he come to? Cho argued in his manifesto, sent to the NBC in between the murders, that he was out to avenge rich "brats" with had their "Mercedes", "gold necklaces", "cognac" and "trust funds". But he had no argument, really - none of the above justifies the shootings.

But, as a lesson, we as individuals need to be constantly reminded of the social callousness we often displays toward the weak and underprivileged.

In the same time society advocates winning, it&#39;d best advocate also tolerance and understanding towards losing. By all means win, but please maintain a healthy respect for those who fall behind.

It&#39;s called "live and let live". In this age of wealth and profligacy in many places, we instead may advocate "thrive but let survive".